Automatic grain-scale



(No Model.)

' 6 Sheets-Sheet 1. R P. RICE & A. M. TRUDE.

. AUTOMATIC GRAIN SCALE. No. 360,820. Patented Apr.'5, 1887.

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(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 2,.

.R'. F; RICE & A. M. TRUDE.

' AUTOMATIC GRAIN SCALE.

.No. 360,820. Patented Apr. 5, 1887.

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(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 3. R. 1?. RICE 8a A. M. TRUDE.

AUTOMATIC GRAIN SCALE.

No. 360,820. Patented Apr. 5, 1887.

N. PETERS. Pholmljiiqnpim. Wnhingiun. D. C,

(No Model.) .6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

R. P. RICE & A. M. TRUDE.

I AUTOMATIC GRAIN SCALE. No. 360,820. Patented Apr. 5, 1887.

Q/Vi-l meooes avwawtow N. PETERS. Phm-utho m her. Wmahingio". D. C.

(No Model.) 6 SheetsSheet 5.

R. P. RICE & A. M. TRUDE.

AUTOMATIC GRAIN SCALE.

No. 360,820. Patented Apr. 5, 1887.

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AUTOMATIC GRAIN SCALE. No. 360,820. Patented Apr. 5, 1887.

UNITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT F.'RIOE AND ARTHUR M. TRUDE, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

AUTOMATIC GRAIN-SCALE.

v SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patentlll'o. 360,820, datedApril 5, 1887.

Application filed June 11, 1886. Serial No. 204,827. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ROBERT F. RICE and ARTHUR M. TRUDE, both ofHartford, Connecticut, have jointly invented a new and useful AutomaticGrain-Scale, of which the following description and claims constitutethe crating parts, which are attached to the nearer side of the frame,being in the positions they would occupy if the entire frame were thereto support them. Figs. 3 and 4 are the same as Fig. 2 except that eachof them represents a different position of the operating parts. Fig. 5is a plan view of the apparatus with all .parts above the bucketremoved, and Fig. 6

is a plan view of the parts which are absent from Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is avertical section of the fulcra of the weighing-beams on the line a a ofFig. 1. Figs. 8 and 9 are elevations of the remoter end of the hoppershown in Fig. 1, and those figures show the valve of the hopper indifferent positions.

The numeral 1 everywhere indicates the fixed frame of the apparatus. Thedouble bucket 2 is between the two sides of the frame, and

is pivoted at 63 to the upper bifurcated scalebeam, 3, between the forksthereof. Thelower bifurcated scale-beam, 4, has its forks directly underthose of the upper scale-beam, and both scale-beams turn on knife-edgeson the upper side of the fulcrum-bar 5. The upper scalebeam is providedwith the poise 6 and the poise 7, and the lower scale-beam is provided.withthe poise 8 and the poise 9. The arm 10,

provided at its lower end with the roller 11, projects downward from thenearer fork of the bifurcated scalebeam 3. The arm 12 projectshorizontally from the same fork of the same scale-beam, and the arm 13,provided at its upper end with the roller 14, projects upward from theother fork thereof. The cam lever 15 is pivoted to the frame under thearm 10, so as to be worked thereby, and is con-- nected by the rod 16 tothe lever 17, which lever is pivoted to the inner side of the nearerside of the frame at 18, and sustains, at its working end, the pistonrod19 and the piston 20. That piston has the valve 21, and works in thecylinder 22, which cylinder is bolted to the arm 23 of the frame 1, andis provided with the cook 24. A frame, 25, flanks the cylinder, ondiametrically-opposite sides thereof,

and has its upper end rigidly attached to the piston-rod 19, while itslower end supports the weight26. The hopper 27 is supported by the frame1 directly over the center of the double bucket 2, and is provided inthe inside with the gate 28, which is adjustable in vertical slits inthe end walls of the hopper by means of the set-screws 29 and 30. Thehopper-valve 31 has the curve of a circle of which the pivots 32 and 33are the center. The arms 34 and 35 turn on those pivots, respectively,and are connected by the cross-bar 36, from which cross-bar the arms 37and 38 extend downward and sustain the valve 31. The arm 34 is longerthan the arm 35, and its extremity is provided with the trip 39, theleft-hand end of which is heavier than the other end, which latter is,however, limited in upward movement by the stud 40. The trip 41 ispivoted to the arm 42 and engages with a notch in the upper end of thearm 43, which latter projects upward from the lever 17. The arms 44 and45 vibrate together on the pivot 46, the lower end of the former beingbent to engage with the adjacent end of the nearer fork of thescale-beam 4, and the outer end of the arm 45 being provided with theadjustable extremity 47 for engagement with the finger 48 on the neareredge of the hopper-valve 31. The floats 49 and 50 are suspended in thetwo compartments of the double bucket 2 by the rods 51 I and 52,respectively, the upper ends of those rods being attached to the outerends of the arms 53 and 54, respectively, and those arms having theirinner ends fixed to the valve 55, which valve oscillates upon a pivotalbearing coincident with its lower edge. The valves 56 and 57 are fixedto the pivot 58, and the segmental ring 59 is attached to their nearerends and is adapted to engage with the latch 60, which latch is providedwith the stud 61 for engagement with the bracket 62.

The mode of operation is as followsz-The ICO stream of grain fallscontinuously from above into the hopper 27, and its flow in the hopperis regulated by the position of the gate 28,while its descent into thebucket 2 is controlled by the valve 55, all the parts of the apparatusbeing in the primary positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2. When apredetermined proportion of one load of grainfor example, ninety-fiveper cent. of such a loadhas fallen into that compartment of the bucketwhich is being filled, its weight overbalances the gravity of theright-hand end of the upper scale-beam and its appurtenances, and thuscauses the left-hand end of the upper scale-beam, to-

gether with the entire bucket and its contents, to descend until theupper scale-beam collides with the lower scalebeam. That descentwithdraws the arm 13 and roller 14 from any longer supporting the arm35, so that gravity at once causes the arms 34 and 35, the bar 36, thearms 37 and 38 to descend and to carry the valve 31 from the positionshown in Figs. 1, 2, 6, and 8 to that shown in Fig. 3, where furthermovement of the valve 31 is stopped by the finger 48 colliding with theadjustable extremity 47 of the arm 45. That colliding leaves the valveslightly open, so that the grain will slowly drip from the hopper intothe open compartment of the bucket until another predeterminedproportion of one load-for example, five per cent. of such a load-hasfallen into the bucket and overbalanced the left-hand end of the lowerscalebeam and its appurtenances. Then the bucket 2 descends stillfarther, carrying with it the left-hand ends of both scale-beams. Thedownward motion of the left-hand end of the lower scale-beam instantlycarries the extremity of its nearer fork into collision with the lowerend of the arm 44, forcing it to swing to the left, and thus to draw thearm and its extremity 47 downward and away from all contact with thefinger 48. That withdrawal allows gravity to instantly move the valve 31from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Figs. 4 and 9, andthus to entirely cut off the drip of grain from the hopper into thebucket; but the former descent of the valve not only operated to nearlyclose the same, but also carried the shorter end of the trip 39 intocollision with the adjacent ends of the trip 41, and that end of thetrip 39, being prevented from much upward movement by stud 40, operatedto force the adjacent end of the trip 41 downward and its other endupward and away from all contact with the arm 43, as shown in Fig. 3.Thereupon the weight 26 began to descend, but was retarded in so doingby the resistance afforded to the downward motion or the piston 20 bythe partly-confined air in the cylinder 22. Now, by the time the valve31 is completely closed and the drip cut entirely off, the weight 26 andthe parts from which it is suspended have overcome that resistance, soas to drop the weight upon the extremity of the nearer fork of the upperscale-beam, 3. That added gravity carries the scale-beams and the bucketdownward from the balanced position which follows the final closing ofthe valve 31 to the discharging position shown in Fig. 4. Thedischarging is effected by the collision of the stud 61 with the bracket62 and the consequent lifting of the latch 60 from the detent on theupper edge of the segmental ring 59. When that occurs, the gravity ofthe grain in the bucket throws the valve 56 open and shuts the valve 57.As the grain falls out of the bucket it carries the float 49 downward,and thus raises the float 50 upward, and carries the valvefrom theposition shown in Figs. 2, 3, and5 through that shown in Fig. 4 to aposition wherein the valve 55 entirely closes the left-hand compartmentof the bucket. Soon after the discharge of the grain begins the bucketrises, and thus allows the latch to engage with the detent on thesegmental ring 59, and thus to lock the valves 56 and 57 in the positionshown in Fig. 4. The rising of the bucket also allows the bifurcatedends of the scale-beams to rise. The resulting oscillation of the upperbeam, 3, carries the arm 10 toward the left and forces the roller 11into collision with the inclined surface of the cam-lever 15, thusforcing that lever downward and, through the rod 16 and the lever 17,raising the weight 26 from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown inFig. 1. The lowering of the right-hand end of the lever 17 allows theright-hand and heavier end of the trip 41 to again engage with the notchin the arm 43. The same oscillation of the scale-beam 3 also lifts thearm 13 and the roller 14 into contact with the arm 35, and thus liftsthe valve 31 and its appurtenances from the position of Figs. 4 and 9 tothat of Figs. 1, 2, 6, and 8. In this movement the shorter end of thetrip 39 is carried past the longer end of the trip 41, the longer end ofthe trip being free to rise in order to permit the downward movement ofthe shorter end. After being carried past the trip 41 the trip 39assumes the position shown in Fig. 1, with the gravity of its longer endkeeping its shorter and lighter end in contact with the stud 40. Theupward movement of the lower scale-beam, 4, allows the arms 44 and 45 toreturn to the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Thus all parts of theapparatus are restored to the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2, exceptthat the valve 57 is now closed and the valve 56 open, instead ofcontrariwise, and except that the valve 55 now closes the upper end ofthe left-hand compartment of the bucket 2, instead of closing the upperend of its righthand compartment. Thereupon the stream of grain fillsthe left-hand compartment, and the apparatus otherwise works as before.The alternate filling and discharging of the two compartments of thebucket automatically continues as long as grain falls into the hopper27, and the apparatus can be made to keep a register of the amount ofgrain weighed by it by means of any suitable counter so applied toeither of its scale-beams as to indicate the number of its oscillations.

The employment of two scale-beams enables us to automatically almost,(but not entirely) close the valve 31 before the entire load is put intothe bucket, and thus to eliminate the inaccuracy of weighing due to themomentum of the full stream of falling grain, when that stream isallowed to continue till the bucket is entirely loaded. The employmentof the Weight 26, restrained in falling by the partlyconfined air in thecylinder 22, enables us to cut off the drip of grain when thescale-beams are both balanced, and then to discharge the load by meansof the falling of the retarded weight. We believe we are the first toemploy two scale-beams thus operating, and also the first to employ aretarded weight for the purpose of overbalancing a filled and balancedbucket in an automatic grain-scale. The width of the narrow opening leftbetween the valve 31 and the left-hand wall of the hopper may beadjusted by advancing or retracting the extremity 47 of the arm 45, and

the retardation of the weight 26 may be adjusted by means of the cook24. being made to vary the vent of the air in the cylinder 22.

We claim asour joint invention- 1. The combination of two scale-beams soconstructed and arranged that one of them is first caused to oscillateindependent of the other by a portion of the load to be weighed, and theother is afterward caused to oscillate by the loaded end of the firstone falling upon 'the corresponding end of the second one, all

vided with the valve 21, the cylinder 22, provided with the cock 24.,andthe weight 26, mg-

idly connected with the piston, the whole being so constructed andarranged that the air in the cylinder retards the fall of the piston andthe weight, when neither the weight nor the piston is supportedotherwise than by the air, all substantially as described.

4. The combination of thescale-beam 3, provided with the arm 13, and thevalve 31, controlled by the arm 35, the whole being so constructed andarranged that the fall of the loaded end of the scale-beam withdraws thearm 13 from supporting the arm 35, and thus permits the valve 31 to falltoward a closure, all substantially as described.

5. The combination of the scale-beam 4, the arms 44 and 45, and thevalve 31, the whole being so constructed and arranged that theoscillation of that scale-beam will permit the valve to close, allsubstantially as described.

6. The combination of the scale-beam 3, provided with the arm 10, thecam-lever 15, the rod 16, the lever 17, and the weight 26, so con--structed and arranged that the oscillation of the scale-beam will raisethe weight, all substantially as described.

7. The combination of the arm 34, the trip 39, the trip 41, the lever17, and the weight 26, all so constructed and arranged that the fallingof the said arm causes the said trip 39 to trip the trip 41, and thusallow the lever 17 to oscillate and the weight 26 to fall, allsubstantially as described.

8. The combination of the floats 49 and 50 and the valve 55, soconstructed and arranged that the floats alternately operate the valve,all substantially as described.

Hartford, Connecticut, June 9, 1886.

ROBERT F. RICE; ARTHUR M. TRUDE.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. WALKER, FRANK H. PIERroNT.

